Kerry Off Base Comparing Syria To Munich

ROBERT J. DORNFRIED | FRESH TALK

Early this month, Secretary of State John Kerry applied a misguided sense of history to today's American foreign policy. In an attempt to galvanize international support for military intervention in Syria for President Bashar al-Assad's violation of President Barack Obama's red line, Kerry said "this was our Munich moment" (referring to the 1938 Munich Agreement that appeased Hitler by granting him portions of Czechoslovakia).

As the 75th anniversary of the signing of Munich Agreement on Sept. 30 approaches, the U.S. should re-examine the sometimes tenuous nature of applying lessons of the past and American diplomacy's rash efforts to draw analogies.

Aside from Adolf Hitler, Europe was ill-prepared and in no mood for war in 1938. It was still licking its wounds from World War I. Appeasement was the prevailing strategy for Britain and France, because the cost of maintaining peace was priceless. Leading up to the Munich Conference in 1938, German belligerence threatened to undo the League of Nations' experiment in collective security and ignite another world war. Seeking to forge a new Reich consisting of ethnic Germans, Hitler set his sights on annexing Czechoslovakia's German-populated frontier region know as the Sudetenland.

Events culminated in the summer of 1938 when Hitler started bullying Czechoslovakia into granting autonomy and self-determination in the Sudetenland, as well as fomenting insubordination by Sudeten Germans within Czechoslovakia. The same tactic worked in Austria months before.

The Sudetenland's mountainous terrain, ore deposits and military installations were strategically vital for the Czech defenses. Hitler was preparing to invade if Czechoslovakia did not yield. If Germany had invaded, Europe's entangling alliances would have activated, dragging Europe into another world war. In a last-ditch effort to preserve peace, an emergency meeting convened in Munich. In attendance were Britain, France, Germany and Italy. Europe braced for war as the four powers brokered the fate of Czechoslovakia and of Europe.

Early in the morning of Sept. 30, the Munich Agreement was signed. Britain and France agreed to cede the Sudetenland without Czech consultation. Hitler regretted he was checkmated into pledging no further territorial demands. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned to London to declare "peace for our time" to a roaring crowd. Winston Churchill, however, foresaw an impending war with Germany and denounced Chamberlain as a coward.

In reality, Chamberlain upheld standard policy and bought Britain and France precious time to rearm. Although Munich is considered the epitome of appeasement by many statesmen, including Kerry, the agreement salvaged a dreadful situation and bought the Allies time to remilitarize for an inevitable conflict.

Kerry's drawing an analogy between Munich and Syria is the latest edition of post-9/11 American fear-mongering. The stakes in Syria are nowhere near that of Europe 1938. Bashar al-Assad is not Hitler and does not desire a Third Reich. Syria is currently engaged in a civil war more closely resembling the Spanish Civil War or the breakup of Yugoslavia, not the Sudeten crisis. The Assad regime is not revisionist and has no territorial disputes that might escalate into a war of aggression. Unlike Czechoslovakia, which was surrounded by predatory nationalist powers, Syria is checked by U.S. allies Turkey and Israel, not to mention the specter of NATO.

Although Assad's use of chemical weapons is inexcusable, we must separate the magnitude of Munich in 1938 from Syria in 2013. We mustn't overestimate his capabilities and intentions. Remember President George W. Bush's deception of the American public concerning weapons of mass destruction and the perils of appeasing Saddam Hussein before the Iraq invasion in 2003? Today, we are constantly warned of the doomsday scenarios of enabling Iran and North Korea, the apparent "Axis of Evil," to obtain nuclear weapons.

By yielding to the Russian plan to decommission Syria's chemical weapons America is sensibly appeasing Assad. Although our image abroad has diminished, America is in no mood for another Middle East war.

Robert Dornfried, 24, of Berlin, is studying for his master's degree in liberal studies at Wesleyan University and is a social studies teacher at East Catholic High School.

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